-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Alec Baldwin is still an actor . He 's just no longer in show business .

As his one-time `` Orphans '' co-star , Shia LaBeouf , did last winter , Baldwin has given a public statement that he 's ready to retire from public life .

He does so in an essay told to New York magazine , covering a lot of ground recounting the tumultuous events that led up to this decision . While 2013 was n't all bad for the 55-year-old star -- the actor and his wife , Hilaria , welcomed their daughter , Carmen , in August -- it also was n't the best .

There was his conflict with LaBeouf on the set of a Broadway production of `` Orphans , '' the death of his friend James Gandolfini , his angry Twitter exchange with a Daily Mail journalist in which he called the writer a `` toxic little queen , '' and then an altercation with a paparazzo in November that led to a domino effect for more criticism and lost work .

During that standoff , Baldwin was accused of calling a photographer a `` c ** ksucking f * g. '' That incident , combined with his Daily Mail dust-up , caused a significant shift in Baldwin 's life .

`` I 'm not a homophobic person at all , '' he says in the New York magazine essay . `` But this is how the world now sees me . I have n't changed , but public life has . ... Now I do n't want to be Mr. Show Business anymore . ''

The former `` 30 Rock '' star says he can no longer enjoy New York the way he once did , now that `` everyone has a camera in their pocket , '' combined with the `` predatory photographers and predatory videographers who want to taunt you and catch you doing embarrassing things . -LRB- Some proof of which I have provided . -RRB- You 're out there in a world where if you do make a mistake , it echoes in a digital canyon forever . ''

As someone who once relished being out in his home base of New York , where people were generally `` very kind '' to him , Baldwin says he 's now `` bitter , defensive , and ... misanthropic '' with a distaste for the media that he 's never had before . And while he does see the irony in criticizing the media in a magazine , he promises `` this is the last time I 'm going to talk about my personal life in an American publication ever again . ''

Presumably to make good use of this `` last time , '' Baldwin goes on to recount in opinionated detail the conflicts he 's faced over the past 12 months , lingering on November 's altercation in particular . Although Baldwin 's been accused of lobbing an anti-gay slur at the photographer , he claims he never said it .

`` I 'm self-aware enough to know that I am to blame for some of this . I definitely should not have reacted the way I did in some of these situations , '' the actor says . `` Do I regret screaming at some guy who practically clipped my kid in the head with the lens of a camera ? Yeah , I probably do , because it 's only caused me problems . But -- I 'm sorry , I ca n't let go of this -- do people really , really believe that , when I shouted at that guy , I called him a ` f **** t ' on-camera ? ''

As it would seem from the chilly public reaction , which Baldwin chronicles in his essay , many people definitely do . In the end , that November confrontation appears not only to have cost Baldwin his newly formed talk show at MSNBC but a necessary aspect of his reputation , and particularly in New York .

Now , as a result , Baldwin is saying goodbye to `` public life in the way that you try to communicate with an audience playfully like we 're friends , beyond the work you are actually paid for . ''

`` I want to go make a movie and be very present for that and give it everything I have , and after we 're done , then the rest of the time is mine , '' he continues . `` I started out as an actor , where you seek to understand yourself using the words of great writers and collaborating with other creative people . Then I slid into show business , where you seek only an audience 's approval , whether you deserve it or not . I think I want to go back to being an actor now . ''

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`` I do n't want to be Mr. Show Business anymore , '' Alec Baldwin tells magazine

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He says he still wants to be an actor but does n't want to engage with public

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He says in magazine essay it 's the last time he 'll talk about his life publicly

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In the essay , he recounts the events of 2013 that led him to this decision